1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to systems, tools and associated methods utilized in conjunction with hydrocarbon recovery wells. More particularly, embodiments of the disclosure relate to apparatuses and methods for setting well annulus packers.
2. Background Art
In the hydrocarbon production industry, packers are used for testing, treating and various other sealing and partitioning operations in a wellbore. A packer is often coupled to an outer surface of a mandrel, e.g., a string of production tubing or other work string, and run into the wellbore in a radially contracted state. Once the packer arrives at its intended destination in the wellbore, an elastomeric sealing element of the packer can be radially expanded to establish a seal with a surrounding surface, e.g., casing pipe or a geologic formation, thereby setting the packer in the annulus between the mandrel and the surrounding surface.
Annular packers can be set by a variety of methods. Some of these methods include exerting a mechanical force (a setting force) on the sealing element to longitudinally compress the sealing element, and thereby cause the sealing element to laterally swell into the annulus. The setting force can be exerted on the sealing element by mechanically applying a down-hole force from a surface location, e.g., by manipulating a service tool or work string. Alternatively, the sealing element can be selectively actuated by opening a valve or bursting a rupture disk to thereby permit hydraulic energy to be transferred from fluids present in the wellbore to the sealing element. Often these valves must be opened by mechanical intervention, by dropping a ball or dart, etc. from the surface, and these rupture disks are often activated by the application of pressure from the surface. Additional tubing runs and extra equipment can make these methods costly and time consuming. Since packers are often required to be set, unset, and reset multiple times, the use of telemetrically operable packers can significantly reduce the amount of intervention required, thereby reducing the cost and complexity of many wellbore operations.